From as early as his teenage years, it was plain that Warren Zevon was never going to be an ordinary person, or at the very Continue Reading
Music Dose
John Ford Silent Westerns 'Straight Shooting' and 'Hell Bent' Raise a Ruckus
John Ford launched his career as a feature director with a string of more than 20 wildly successful westerns starring cowboy actor Harry Carey, who Continue Reading
10 Essential Shoegaze Albums That Aren't 'Loveless'
10. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy [Blanco y Negro, 1985] Whilst not a “shoegaze” record by any strict definition of the term, Psychocandy is Continue Reading
'Alive' Showcases the Two Sides of Fred Eaglesmith and Tif Ginn
There are two kinds of “Fred Heads” (dedicated Fred Eaglesmith fans). Some relish his songwriting skills. His ability to evoke life on the farm and Continue Reading
Celebrate People's History Vol. 2: Power to the People!
The ‘people’s history’ approach to thinking about and interpreting the past has gained momentum over the last few decades. From Howard Zinn’s indispensable A People’s Continue Reading
Dan Weiss Starebaby Blend Metal and Jazz on 'Natural Selection'
Why shouldn’t jazz and metal find a common cause? A good slice of both genres thrive and precision, complexity, and instrumental prowess. The composer (and Continue Reading
Randy Newman's 'Born Again' Is His Best Critique of Toxic Masculinity
In 1977, Randy Newman had the biggest hit song of his career, “Short People”, which somewhat incredibly made it to number two on the Billboard Continue Reading
Ron Miles' 'Rainbow Sign' Is Quietly Fantastic
Ron Miles’ last album, 2017’s I Am a Man was elite. It brought together a striking band—his triomates Bill Frisell on guitar and drummer Brian Continue Reading
Experimentalist David Grubbs Documents a Live Set with 'October 19, 2017'
6 April 2020, “The Quarantine Concerts”: This is the first time I remember hearing David Grubbs like this, and I was unmoored by the presentation Continue Reading
Prince and the New Power Generation – 'Diamonds and Pearls' (Between the Grooves)
Prince’s 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls, which introduced his band the New Power Generation, is by some counts his second best-selling album period, after Purple Continue Reading
'Captain America: Civil War' Mirrors Another Kind of American Civil War
In the year 2016, battle lines were drawn. I’m not just referring to on-screen, where heroes fought other heroes in Captain America: Civil War (Russo Continue Reading
Steve Wynn Cracks Open the Archive with 'Decade'
Steve Wynn has the patience of a saint. When he formed the Dream Syndicate in 1981, he was up against it, as all the hip Continue Reading
'Live 80-81' Is Testimony to How Hot This Heat Were on Stage
At age 13, I encountered my first bootleg: a murky cassette of a Nirvana performance from 1988, seemingly recorded from a toilet stall in the Continue Reading
'I Just Wanted to Save My Family', or, How European Institutions Profit from the Refugee Crisis
In the summer of 2011 the Syrian civil war broke out. After struggling for four years to hold on in the capital of Damascus where Continue Reading
JW Francis Shares Joyous New Video For “All There”
One of the first new tracks I shared this year was JW Francis’ ‘Gold‘ which also found him gracing the cover of my Must Hear Continue Reading
Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975
Bassist and composer Charles Mingus used to be a figure of controversy for ten different reasons, some political, some personal, and—though this all seems silly Continue Reading
Lambchop's Kurt Wagner Discusses Their New Covers EP and Pandemic Musical Life
Not much has changed for Kurt Wagner since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nashville native spent most of his time in the house, Continue Reading
Travis Sound Exactly Like Travis on '10 Songs'
At the start of the century, in the UK at least, Travis were everywhere. Their brand of earnest, plangent indie rock was a soothing balm Continue Reading
This Heat's 'Made Available' Is a Near Perfect BBC Sessions LP
On the 28 March 1977, while This Heat were recording their first radio session with producer Tony Wilson and engineer Dave Dade, the Sex Pistols Continue Reading
Futureshock: Herbie Hancock and the Body Politics of Pop
“Rockit” by Herbie Hancock, an unlikely sound track in 1983, arrived as a completely tangential entry into the world of pop. But besides reaching the Continue Reading